roles of genes and hormones in gender development essay

After reading it can you guys comment and tell me what grade you think this is please. lol I hate this topic in psychology but I hope you find this useful :) Discuss the roles of genes and hormones of gender development.(8+16) AO1 Gender is the persons sense of who they are, whether they feel more feminine or masculine. I will first discuss the role of genes in gender development. Each individual has 23 chromosomes which contain hundreds of genes containing instructions on physical and behavioural characteristics such as eye colour. One pair of these chromosomes are called the sex chromosomes because they determine the biological sex of the individual. It can be either **(female) and XY (male). A link has been found between chromosomal sex and internal and external genitalia. This is because during prenatal development all individuals look alike regardless of gender; both seem female. However when the foetus is 3 months old, if it has the chromosomal sex of XY it would be exposed to testosterone which would make the external genitalia (penis) develop. AO2 Research which supports this was conducted by John money. This was the case study on David Reimer. There was twins who at six months old has an operation to treat a urinary infection. Unfortunately one of the twins penis was accidentally botched. Money argued that sex of rearing was more important and said that David could successfully be raised as either a girl or a boy. David was raised as a girl whilst his twin brother was raised as a boy (control). Money claimed that the gender assignment has been a success. AO2 However, David wrote a book which explains how he had struggled with his identity. He said that he was an outcast at school and he/she was in turmoil. During his teenage years he was given drugs with the female hormones so that he would develop breasts. His parents decided to tell him/her the true story and then he felt everything made sense. He immediately transitioned back to a male and has an operation to remove the breasts and reconstruct a penis. He was happy a male, married and raised three step children. His wife then left him in 2002 and he later committed suicide in 2004. This suggests that that biological factors such as genes play a key role in gender development. AO1 The roles of hormones in gender development can affect the development of genitalia and the brain, both of which influence gender behaviour. I will first discuss how the hormones affect the development of genitalia. The role of hormones can be seen when studying females who have been prenatally exposed to abnormal levels of testosterone due to…